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FL pepper plants wilting and losing all leaves

C

c4greene

So I'm not sure what is going on with my plants. I've got about 30 plants that were fine for about 7 months and then all of a sudden the last month I can't stop them from wilting and losing tons of leaves. The leaves would turn yellow so I really slowed the watering hoping that would help, but the problem just won't stop.  There has been a few nights in high 30's, but I really don't know what's going on. I know I need to put in some pics, but figure I'll see if anyone can help first.  The plants haven't been moved either and I've got probably 1000 peppers from these. The strange thing is some of the plants leaves seem very normal and not wilting.  Thanks for any help.
 
If we are talking 30 Fahrenheit, then your plants might be dead... usually, peppers tend to die as temperatures hit the freezing point, with the exception of a few such as Chiletepin and various Pubescens.
 
I suspect it's simply the cooler temperatures. Is it all growth on certain plants or just the older growth on many plants? Is new growth still looking good?
 
I noticed my few plants doing some yellowing and loosing a lot of older leaves at a more rapid rate with the lower temperatures even though I've been trimming off a lot of branches so they would fit inside their winter home. They moved into their shelter three weeks ago. New growth is doing fine. The lowest temperature they've felt since moving in is 46.2°.
 
 
 
Cold weather stresses them pretty well.  Yellow and dropping old leaves are common on my Az plants.  So long as you have a little new growth that is still coming in green, the plant will be fine.  
 
If they drop ALL their leaves, they probably got got some frost.  The plant may well recover, but it will be largely dormant until warmer weather triggers re-growth.
 
Ouch. Maybe they got frosted?
 
That's not at all what I was visualizing about older leaves going yellow and dead from lower temps. The circled leaves here are what I was talking about. They will soon fall off with a flick of a finger.
 
 
If you use organic fertilizers, they will stop breaking down below about 50 something degrees. Your plants will stop taking up nutrients at 40 something degrees. So they've gone dormant, in all likelihood. If you leave the pods alone, and it doesn't get any colder, they'll still ripen.
 
Yeah the pods have ripened. Just not sure what to do at this point. Probably have a couple months where could get into 30s. Growing from seed all over again seems like a pain, but obviously I'll do it if I have to. I guess I should have brought them inside when temps get around 40. Live and learn. Thanks for help!
 
Definitely the cooler weather is causing this, but you don't need to give up on them. I've overwintered many plants when temps have reached  the 30s-40s and they've come back fine once spring rolls around. Good luck!
 
Two of my plants felt temperatures below 40 for a couple of days and showed some wilting and curling of the leaves both old and new. Once the temperature came back up, the leaves recovered. The soil temp remained above 50.
 
I chopped one and moved it to the warmer place where I expect maintaining them above 50 won't be a stretch.
 
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